* J *

Part Five: Chapter 23: Blame

Jack and Jeannie stand on the roof top of their apartment building. There was no view of Metropolis from it besides the nearest buildings, which towered over them, and weren't at all appealing. But it wasn't the view of Metropolis that had caused Jack to rent it in the first place.

Jack's arms wrap around Jeannie and hold her to his chest. A slight smile comes across his face as he looks out over the harbor at Gotham's skyline. That was the only view Jack cared about. He point out at it with one finger as he nuzzles his mouth closer to Jeannie's ear.

"One day it'll all be ours baby," he says in concentration, visualizing the glory. Jeannie just leans back into Jack with a contented sigh.

Jack and his men, his clowns as he now calls them, have pulled off three more daring daylight robberies that were in some way linked to Maroni or Falcone. Word on the street was that Jack had a very steep price on his head. And if he didn't, he should have. He was responsible for about one hundred twenty three million dollars of funds taken straight from the mafia. It was safe to say, Jack had their attention, but they only know this robber as the Red Hood, so the Red Hood had their attention.

And that's precisely what Jack wanted them to believe. He didn't want the fat old bastards to see him coming. He wanted them to become obsessed with the Red Hood, obsessed with taking him down. He wanted to reveal his identity at just the right moment. He would delight in that moment. It would be the sweetest taste of revenge. It would most definitely be the reckoning he's waited so long for.

"I love you Jack," Jeannie says dreamily and looks up at Jack. He has been so happy about going back to Gotham. "When will you be meeting with Uncle Carmine?" She wonders aloud.

"Soon. Very soon. Tomorrow I have a meeting with Maroni. I expect he's gonna try to kill me. But that's ok, it's him that won't be walking away from the meeting." Jack says, sure and cocky.

"What if he shoots you before you can shoot him?" Jeannie asks with a lump in her throat. She knew it was a possibility. Everything could fail and Jack could be killed. Jeannie doesn't care about the money or power that Jack is so compelled by. Jeannie just cares about Jack. She didn't want to lose him.

She feels Jack's lips kiss her shoulder, "Not gonna happen. Just trust me babe, I got this."

Jeannie trusted Jack. She trusted him implicitly. Jack always kept his word and his promises. If Jack says that Maroni would die tomorrow, then he would. Plain and simple. But it doesn't keep Jeannie from going over all the ways that everything could all go wrong. The odds of Jack getting killed weren't exactly at zero percent. It wasn't even 50/50. A lot of things could go horribly awry. That was the kind of things that Jeannie worried about.

And she had every right to worry.

Jack might have been a genius. He may have been streetwise. He may have a great plan. But Jack is still a twenty year old young man. Wisdom is something that comes with age. Jack has seen a lot, been party to a lot, planned a lot, and accomplished a lot. But Jack hasn't the experience of fifty plus year old men who have been mobsters since they could walk. Jack could very easily make a mistake. Something unexpected could arise leaving Jack unprepared. And that's what worried Jeannie so much.

****************
The next night Maroni's men were ambushed at the docks by a bunch of guys in clown masks. A large drug shipment was stolen just as it was coming off the boat. Around 20 kilos of cocaine were taken. Those 20 kilos were meant to supply Gotham for a month until the next shipment is due. But Jack has no intention of them receiving that shipment either. Jack had every intent of seizing anything belonging to the mob that has a value of over a million dollars. Jack didn't necessarily want to put the mob out of business. He just wants to have a change in management.